Brake for casters



April 16, 1935. w, HEROLD 1,998,236

BRAKE FOR CASTERS Filed Jan. 26, 1952 IN VEN TOR. HALTER FHER 11.11

Patented Apr. 16, 1935 UNITED, STATES.

PATENT OFFICE I 1,998,236 I BRAKE ron cAs'rERs Walter F. Herold,Bridgeport, Conn, assignor to The Ba i Q mMnm d p t, C nn, a corporationof Connecticut Application Jan ar 6, 1932, e a No- 588 86 5 Claims. (o1.188-74) 5 position, and the invention. consists in braking meansconstituting a part of the caster, which will permit free movement ofthe caster wheel when it is desired to move thebed or other furnitureabout, and. which will effectually retard or look the wheel againstmovement at other times, an object being to provide such a devic'e ofsimple and reliable construction, which may be operated with facilityand will be efiicient and reliable.

In certain casters heretofore in use the looking of the casternecessitated a change in the level of the furniture, engagement of thebraking means with the floor, changes in the caster mounting and wheelsupporting horn, and other features which were either expensive,complicated, unreliable, or otherwise disadvantageous, and to the end ofobviating these conditions I propose to provide, in the illustratedexemplary embodiment of my invention, a braking means of simpleconstruction which may be attached to a caster of usual constructionwithout the necessity of altering its construction or manufacturingprocesses, which may be operated to produce full braking effect withvery little effort, and which will not be loosened through turningpressure on the wheel as is the case with certain braking meansheretofore in use.

With the above and other objects in view embodiments of the inventionare shown. in the accompanying drawing and these embodiments will behereinafter more fully described with reference thereto, and theinvention will be finally pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a caster according to the illustratedexemplary embodiment of my invention and showing the braking means ininoperative position.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partially broken away and in verticalsection, and showing the operative position.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation, the braking mechanism being in theinoperative position illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail fragmentary sectional view, taken along the line 44of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the brake operat- 1 ing lever employed.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the wheel engaging brake memberemployed.

Fig. '7 is a perspective view of a modified form of the invention.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout theseveral figures of I the drawing. 5

Referring to the drawing, the illustrated ex emplary embodiment of theinvention shown therein comprises a caster horn of normal type having aflat top In, in the central aperture l l of which the reduced andshouldered end I2 of the pintle I3 is engaged, and side legs Hie-i4carrying a transverse axle l5, offset with respect to the swiveling axisof the pintle, and upon which the wheel I6 is mounted. This wheel may beof any suitable type, depending upon the particular use 5 for which thecaster is intended. It may, depending on the particular use, have ayielding tread, as of rubber, felt or the like, or a semi-yieldingtread, as of wood, fibre, bakelite, or the like or a hard tread, as ofmetal or other non-yielding material.

.The brake member, which may be conveniently formed of a strip of springmetal, comprising an Y upper attaching portion I! of rectangular formhaving an aperture 18 for engagement with the end l2 of the pintle, adepending portion l9 bent downwardly from the portion l1, and a brakingportion 20, substantially concentric at its upper portion to the casterwheel and extending tangentially at its lower end portion below thehorizontal plane of the wheel axis. As shown in Fig.

2 the brake member is secured to the under side of the horn top simplyby engaging the pintle end l2 in the aperture 18 and clamping it inplace by the usual pintle securing washer 2|, against 35 the under sideof which the pintle end is swaged, as at 22.

The lower end of the brake member has a stop flange 23 bent outwardlytherefrom and in spaced relation above this flange an upper stop lug 2440 is struck outwardly fromthe portion 28. Between the stop flange 23and the stop lug 24 a series of ratchet teeth 25 are embossed out fromthe portion 20 these being of gradually increasing 5 projection from topto bottom. As shown in Fig. 4, the embossing of the ratchet teeth alonga portion spaced inwardly from the outer vertical edges provides arecess upon the wheel engaging side of the brake member, so that whenthe brake 5 is applied the crown of the tread engages this recess andthe brake bears upon a substantial surface of the tread distributed ateach side of the crown, so that a relatively great braking pressure maybe applied and at the same time the 55 danger of injury to the treadsurface is minimized.

The brake operating lever 26 is in the form of a U-shape yoke having itsends apertured, as at 2'l-2!, and pivotally engaged upon the ends ofably sheathed in a covering 29 of rubber tubing,

or the like, to provide protection againstmarring articles which mightcome into contact with it, and also to provide a frictional grippingsurface for engagement by the foot.

hi the inoperative position of the brake this portion 26 is spaced fromthe wheel tread in substantially concentric relation thereto and the bar28 abuts the upper stop lug 24, the lever being at a slight upwardinclination from the horizontal plane of the wheel axis, so that thetendency of the brake member to spring outwardly and the inward curve ofits surface eifectually retains the lever in its inoperative positionagainst the stop lug. To apply the brake the lever is pressed downwardlyby the foot, as indicated in Fig. 2. When pressed downwardly to asufiicient extent to bind tightly against the wheel tread the brakingeifect is suiiicient to positively-lock the wheel against movement,while at the intermediate positions determined by the ratchet teeth 25the braking effect is graduated, so that it is possible to apply thebrake in a manner to retard turning of the wheel to any desired degree,without actual-' ly preventing it from turning. It will be understoodthat the ratchet teeth 25 are so spaced that the bar 28 can seat betweeneach tooth, where it will be yieldably retained.

The arrangement of the brake means is such that turning pressure thatmay be exerted against the wheel will not tend to loosen or disturb theadjustment of the brake means,

In Fig. 7 I have shown a modification in which the brake member isprovided with a facing 30, secured to it as by rivets 3|, and which maybe of any suitable material, as ordinary brakelining. This facing willpreferably be slightly resilient, and in this case will be especiallydesirable for en- I gagement with a hard tread.

I have illustrated and described a preferred and satisfactory embodimentof the invention, but it will be obvious that changes may be madetherein, within the spirit and scope thereof, as defined in the appendedclaims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. In a caster, a wheel carryingv member, a wheel rotatable therein, abrake member carried by said wheel carrying member and surrounding aportion of said wheel tread, and a movable actuating member movableconcentrically of the wheel and slidably engaging said brake memberadapted upon movement in one direction to press said brake member intobraking engagement with said wheel tread.

2. In a caster, a wheel carrying member, a wheel rotatable therein, aresilient brake member carried by said wheel carrying member surroundinga portion of said wheel tread said member normally tending to springaway from said wheel tread, a yoke lever slidably engaging said brakemember adapted upon movement in one direction to press said brake memberinto braking engagement with said wheel tread, and upon movement. in theother direction to permit said brake member to spring away from saidwheel tread, said brake member having means adapted to releasably andyieldably retain said yoke lever in any of its moved positions.

3.,In a caster, a wheel carrying member, a wheel rotatable therein, aresilient brake member carried by said wheel carrying member surroundinga portion of said wheel tread said member normally tending to springaway from said wheel tread, a yoke lever slidably engaging said brakemember adapted upon movement in one direction to press said brake memberinto braking engagement with said wheel tread, and upon movement in theother direction to permit said brake member to spring away from saidwheel tread, said brake member having ratchet means adapted to yieldablyretain said yoke lever in its moved positions.

4. In a caster, a wheel carrying horn, a wheel rotatable therein, aresilient brake member carried by said horn and surrounding a portion ofsaid wheel tread, an actuating yoke lever pivotally mounted coaxial withthe wheel axis and slidably engaging said brake member adapted-uponmovement in one direction to press said brake member into brakingengagement with said wheel tread, and upon movement in the otherdirection to permit said brake member to spring away from said wheeltread, said brake member having a yoke lever engaging portionnon-concentric to said wheel.

5. In a caster, a wheel carrying member, a wheel rotatable therein, amovable brake member carried by said wheel carrying member having an'arcuate tread engaging portion surrounding a portion of said wheel treadwith its concave side contiguous to and adapted to engage the wheeltread, an actuating member movable concentrically of the wheel axis andslidably engaging said brake member adapted upon movement in onedirection to press said brake member into braking engagement with saidwheel tread, and upon movement in the other. direction to permit saidbrake member to move away from said wheel tread, and camming meanscooperating between said brake member and said actuating member wherebyincreased movement of said actuating member applies said brake memberagainst the tread with increased pressure.

WALTER F. HEROLD.

